Congratulations to Dr. Emily Lacroix
Congratulations Emily! Please join us at 1:30pm on the Green Patio to celebrate the successful defense of Emily’s dissertation. Stanford University *** Ph.D. Thesis/ Oral Defense *** Revealing the unforeseen role and sensitivity of anoxic protection in soil carbon cycling Emily Lacroix Thursday, October 13, 9:00am Green 365 Department of Earth System Science
Advisor: Dr. Scott Fendorf
Increasing soil carbon (C) content promises to mitigate climate change and enhance soil fertility. Soil C content is determined, in part, by microbial respiration, which converts soil C into carbon dioxide. Carbon protection mechanisms represent processes and conditions that limit microbial respiration of soil C. Anoxic microsites, zones of oxygen depletion in otherwise oxic soils, are a recently recognized and under-studied soil C protection mechanism. In this dissertation, I use field and laboratory methods to determine the extent and contribution of anoxic microsites to soil C protection within natural and agricultural systems. In Chapter 2, I measure the dissolved oxygen content of soil porewater from California agricultural soils. I show that physical disturbance destroys anoxic microsites through enhancing oxygen supply to the smallest soil pores. In Chapter 3, I show that oxygen limitations constrain OM turnover in a Hawaiian rainforest soil, an environment where mineral content is presumed to be the dominant soil C protection mechanism. In Chapter 4, I examine a soil textural gradient at the Stanford Dish and demonstrate that anoxic microsites are particularly important for protecting C in coarsely textured soils. Finally, in Chapter 5, I use droplet digital PCR to quantify anaerobe DNA (a proxy for anoxic microsites) in soils from four long-term agricultural experiments across the continental United States. I show that anoxic microsites vary with soil properties, respond to management, and uniquely contribute to soil C stabilization within cropland soils. In sum, this dissertation reveals that anoxic microsites represent a vulnerability in the soil C stock but also an opportunity to enhance soil C storage.
